Network-based storage is commonly utilized for data backup, geographically distributed data accessibility, and other purposes. In a typical network storage environment, a storage server makes data available to clients by presenting or exporting to the clients one or more logical containers of data. There are various forms of network storage, for example, network attached storage (NAS) and storage area network (SAN). For NAS, a storage server typically services file-level requests from clients, whereas SAN storage servers service block-level requests. Some storage server systems may support both file-level and block-level requests.
There are multiple mechanisms and protocols utilized to access data stored in a network storage system. For example, a Network File System (NFS) protocol or Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol may be utilized to access a file over a network in a manner similar to how local storage is accessed. The client may also use an object protocol, such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) protocol or the Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) protocol, to access stored data over a LAN or over a wide area network such as the Internet.
Object-based storage (OBS) is a scalable system for storing and managing data objects without using hierarchical naming schemas. OBS systems integrate, or “ingest,” variable size data items as objects having unique identifier (ID) keys into a flat name space structure. Objects are accessed and retrieved using key-based searching implemented via a web services interface such as one based on the Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture or simple object access protocol (SOAP). This allows applications to directly access objects across a network using “get” and “put” commands without having to process more complex file system and/or block access commands.
OBS may also be used to store backup/archived files. At any given time, a specific data container from an archived data container may have to be restored. Continuous efforts are being made to develop computing technology that can efficiently restore specific data containers from an OBS based system.